Tuesday, 29 April 2014

It was surprising that such a beautiful day only saw a field of 71 men & 23 ladies turn up to a course in surprisingly good condition after all the rain we had recently. Greens were excellent & the fairways had responded to the drying conditions experienced over the last 3 days, although we were well looked after with local rules of preferred lies & bunkers GUR! Congratulations to the greens staff.

We have a new sponsor for the day, Westco Mazda, who sent two consultants to talk to anyone interested in the cars on display. They have also confirmed further sponsorship in September, so if you are thinking of a new car, go & have a chat to them.

Thanks to the club for looking after us as usual with sandwiches & drinks. Welcome to new member Ron Williams of Paradise Palms. Our membership stands at 200 to date.

Our next game is at Mareeba & is a Consistency single stableford, sponsored by TGT Hardware.

Tuesday, 22 April 2014

A field of 48 men & 10 ladies turned up to a course in surprisingly good condition after all day rain yesterday which continued during today with some cool conditions & blustery winds, which may have explained the generally poor scores. As numbers were under 60, only 2 divisions were awarded again. Greens were consistent & the pins were in some interesting positions! Congratulations to the greens staff.

We have a new sponsor for the day, Calanna Pharmacy. Thanks to Owen & Debbie for looking after us as usual with sandwiches & drinks.

Welcome to new member Les Tenni of Atherton. Our membership stands at 193 to date.

Next week Lois will be taking orders for club shirts for anyone who hasn't already got one, or who wants a spare.

Our next game is at Cairns & is a single stableford, being the first round of the Ted Thomasson trophy & sponsored by Westco Motors.

Tuesday, 15 April 2014

Congratulations to all those who checked their emails or this blog about the restricted numbers game at HMB today. We only had a handful turn up without booking with the pro & a field of 47 men & 11 ladies turned up to a course in surprisingly good condition with fast greens after 200mm of rain over the cyclone period. Thanks to the greens staff & volunteers who were clearing up the debris caused by high winds. The inner 9 holes were an interesting variation on our usual game there.

As the numbers for the game were restricted, the comp was run as a single stableford in one grade for men & one for women & will not count towards the Consistency or Savannah Cup points. The Veteran's Grand Slam of Golf game (see earlier blog post on 3 Apr) will be rescheduled for our next game at Cairns on 29 Apr.

Thanks to Greg & the caterers for looking after us & to the Pro for taking the bookings for us.

Welcome to our visitor Aiden Jeffery from Suffolk, UK. We hope you enjoyed the day & will come again. Our membership stands at 188 to date.

Our game next week is at Atherton, so fingers crossed for some decent drying weather.

Monday, 14 April 2014

HMB advised they will have the inside 9 only in play tomorrow, but that carts will be allowed & the caterers will be on deck as usual.

In view of this, we have decided to run a shotgun start at 8am & limit the field to 60 max. (If we had a one tee start the first groups would have a long wait before starting their second 9 & the later groups would probably delay the club members comp teeing off at 1pm.)

Members wishing to play tomorrow must ring the club on 4055 7933 to book a tee (& a cart if they wish).

Friday, 11 April 2014

Due to the current Cyclone situation approaching the Far North Queensland coast, the Mareeba Golf Club Management Committee has postponed the 2014 Steggles Mareeba Open until the 26th and 27th April.

The Club appreciates that some people may not be able to play on this changed weekend, however what the Club will do is hold the current tee times allocated to players unless we are specifically contacted by those who are unable to play.

The Mareeba Golf Club Management Committee wishes all the best to Golfers and Clubs across the region whom may be potentially affected by Cyclone Ita.

Tuesday, 8 April 2014

75 men & 20 ladies turned up on a beautiful, if blustery morning, to a course that was quite heavy going off the fairways due to a mower breakdown. Many may have expected the greens to hold as they had been doing during the wet weather, but instead found the ball bounding through & the putts were a lot faster than expected too. Scores were not high!

Thanks to Phil for looking after us well as usual & running a drinks cart around & Tom Bryce for preparing the board for us.

Welcome to new members Paul Patten of Gordonvale & Alistair Inglis of Paradise Palms. Our membership stands at 187 to date. Welcome also to visitor Keith Dudgeon of Ashgrove. We hope you enjoyed the day & will come again.

A few members availed themselves of Daniel Gawley's warmup/pro tips session on the practice ground that was notified on the blog at short notice. We hope to offer this service again next game at Gordonvale, but will let you know nearer the time.

Our game next week is at Half Moon Bay, so fingers crossed for some more decent drying weather.

Monday, 7 April 2014

Daniel Gawley, former PGA Professional at Drummond, has become resident pro at Gordonvale golf club & wants to trial a warm up/golf tips session for the Veterans starting tomorrow at Gordonvale driving range from 0630am until last tee off.

The trial is a free service to all members & it will be suitable for 6 iron or less on the short driving range at the club.

If there is sufficient interest, this may become a regular opportunity at our games played at Gordonvale for members to improve their golf.

Tuesday, 1 April 2014

Although there were some overnight showers on the coast, a beautiful morning on the Tablelands greeted 73 men & 17 ladies who turned up to a course that was in fine condition with fast greens ready for their Open at the weekend. Congratulations to the greens staff and Kevin Moore & his volunteers who have obviously worked hard, although the pin placements on the slippery front slopes of the greens showed a warped sense of humour on someone's part! All those from the coastal clubs clearly relished the opportunity to walk around a firm, dry course.

Thanks to Jon & Raylene for looking after us well as usual at the bar & with catering. Thanks also to Col McDowall for picking up the prizes from our sponsor TGT Hardware & putting out the NTPs.

We are now back to weekly games & the game next Tuesday is a single stableford Consistency event at Gordonvale, so fingers crossed for some more decent weather to dry the course out a bit more & let the mowers at the rough.

A reminder of some other games coming up:

- Mareeba Mitsubishi Masters on 5/6 Apr. - 36 hole stroke comp. with a Hole in One prize on the Sunday of a Mitsubishi Outlander! Entry is $40 for both days or $25 for one. Details & nomination form from publicity@mareebagolfclub.com.au. (Better phone on 4092 1528 as it may be closed off now.)

- State Veteran Championships at Mt Coolum on 12/13 May, a 36 hole stroke comp. Entry is $50 & nominations close 2 May. Details are on the QVGU website, www.qvgu.com.au. We will have some entry forms at our normal registration.

- National Veteran Golfers Championships in WA on 9-14 Nov. Entry is $320. Details are available at www.vetsgolf.com.au We will have some entry forms at our normal registration.